Wrong hobby?

[Infje]

I think I've definately chosen the wrong hobby.. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] Followed Radds lessons but accidenly added too much pitch/throttle. Heli went skating over the ground and I panicked, wanting to shut off the throttle/pitch. What do I do? Pull the wrong f*cking stick towards me..

Tailboom has a few dents in it and doesn't look entirely straight anymore, rotorblades have some 'scratchmarks' at the end.

Sjees. Maybe its because I practiced for an hour at most at a friends sim who has the throttle/pitch on a different stick?

I'm so pissed off. Shops are closed tomorrow and monday and I can't do [censored] about it [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

You know.. if you crash when doing something cool.. why not. But this is just plain stupid [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Not trying to put anyone off here, I just needed to vent I guess.

Grtz,
-Menno

Know exactly what you mean. I had some very frustrating
trips to the flying field. However the buzz I got the
first time it flew fine for a few battery packs
was worth it.

Only problem now is Im totally addicted and trying
to find the money for brushless.

I used a sim for a few months first to bash into my head
what stick does what. Enough problems without having
to contend with that as well.

Good luck.

[Bejay]

Sh*t happens...what can I say.....things like this happen to us all sooner or later. The one thing I will say though, DON'T EVER MIX MODES.....IT'S DISASTEROUS

The first thing in this situation is to assess the damage with a mean eye, we don't want to spend money when we don't need to and if the shops are shut then the question is how do we get back into the air without spending any money at all.

First question is how damaged are the rotor blades, if it is only superficial, scratches and such are OK big digs and the like are probably not, then we are likely to be in business.

The dents and ben in the boom can be staightened by pushing something about the same diameter up it, but if it is structurally sound and reasonably straight then I wouldn't bother to do any thing to it, it will meet a permanent end soon enough but in the meantime use what you've got just make sure the tail rota is vertical.


The only thing you have probably damaged that will need attention is hidden to the eye and that is the feathering spindle ( the metal rod between the blade holders with the M4 lock nut on each end ) is almost certainly bent but you can straighten that by finding the 'high' spot by rolling it on a flat surface tapping it down with a small hammer and then rolling it on a flat surface again to see if it straight repeat as required until it is straight again ( it will never be 100% again stop when you think it's good enogh ).

You should be able to take to the skys by tomorrow without spending a penny ....... best of luck


Gordon

[HARRomeo]

I agree with Gordon Infje. If the tailboom is only bent or dented it is easily repaired by pushing a socket through it that's the same diameter as the tailboom's ID. (I found that a chrome craftsman 12mm socket is pretty good!) If the tailboom is torn anywhere it's no good though. Dents/bends are easily removed by the above method. As far as the blades go if it's just some small scratches on the ends they're probably fine.. inspect them scrutinously though to make sure they aren't cracked under the covering. Then, recheck their balance. You can check your feathering shaft for being bent by turning one of the nuts on it while watching the opposite blade holder. You should see no wobble in the blade holder.. if it wobbles.. even a little bit.. the feathering shaft is bent and will need attention. You can straighten it out pretty close, however if it's bent I'd still order a new one.. maybe get the hardened one, however once you get it close to where there's no wobble seen you can continue the lessons with it. Stay calm when those blades are spinning. Don't practice on your friend's sim unless you set it up to work like your sticks are as well.. as Buzz says mixing modes is a recipe for disaster!

[Infje]

I must say, things looked a lot worse at first. I spend some time with a friend fixing everything. Main gear replaced, tailboom straightened out and rotorblades fixed. Back in flying condition. It just sucked that it happened with something so simple.

Thanks for the hints/tips/heads up Gordon and Romeo, really appreciate that [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

/edit: and Buzz of course, for applying some form of relativity theory [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[Sycorax]

Hey Infe .. congrats that it didn't take more damage. As for the sim .. never mix the modes .. you will defintely train the wrong reflexes as you experienced today. BUT, this incident shows, that sim training can be useful when done according to your heli setup. You instinktivly did the right .. just with the wrong stick. Beside .. crashing when doing cool things isn't fun either. In 2001 I crahsed twice because i flew "cool" loopings .. last year I didn't even try one .. I didn't feel comfortable with it anymore. Just today, I finally flew two of them, the first after 1 1/2 years. I spend a whole lot of time on practising controlling the heli in almost all flight postions and to get completely comfortable with it. Oh .. in 2002 I only had one crash .. due to technical failure of the Ikarus gyro (which was at once replaced by a GY240).
Greetings Ralf

Don't give up!

[Infje]

Well, I know what you're saying but it does kinda suck when you aren't even of the deck and you already have a hard landing. Makes you feel as if you're a legless person trying to train for a triathlon. I've waited so long for the day where I could actually do something with my Eco and I didn't expect it to end so abruptly without accomplishing anything. If I managed to hover it it would at least have given me some satisfaction and something to look back on when rebuilding...

Thanks for the heads up though Syco.

[coleyp]

Don't sweat it. I had the tail rotor hit the stove while I was doing Radd's lessons. Did a whole bunch of damage. That was the first. I've had a few more [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] and I'm sure I'm gonna have some in the future. For me, it's part of the hobby. Everytime I rebuild I try to get it just a little bit better and everytime I rebuild I can do it just a little bit faster [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img].Hang in there! If I can fly, anybody can!

>>Shops are closed tomorrow and monday and I can't do [censored] about it <<

ROFL! My sympathy to your crash. Now you realize the price I have to pay to live here. If I crash I have no shops to go to. I have to get on the computer and order those parts. The quickest is around 4 days before I get the parts. So I like to stock lots of extra parts for that crashing moment. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]